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Nigeria’s 2015 Elections: When Kings Decide

Feature Article Nigerias 2015 Elections: When Kings Decide
JAN 22, 2015 LISTEN

As Nigerians continue to count down on their country's 2015 elections, so many interesting facts are raked up daily about the nation's politicians and their capabilities. There is a prevailing tendency for contending parties to go all out to research on the profile of their opponents. That is a very healthy development. Ordinarily, it would enable Nigerians to make informed decisions about who they want to vote for. These researches should offer Nigerians the opportunity to know their leaders more deeply, more intimately. Voters would be in a better position to know what politicians, seriously angling for their votes, are capable or incapable of doing. Their track records would be there at the instance of anyone who cares to know more about them.

Unfortunately, that is not the fact on the ground. In this country, anything goes. This is why Nigerian TV stations must hurry now to perform their national obligation and arrange a public debate between major contestants like GEJ and GMB before voters go to the polls.

From the look of things, research findings will fail to give Nigerians the relevant facts they need to make up an informed opinion. For instance, some people say GMB's tenure as chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund under General Sani Abacha was so transparent and corruption-free that New Africa magazine recognised it as a “rare feat” in contemporary governance. Some others say his regime in PTF was so rotten it can only be compared with a tin of cankerworms. So, unless you go deeper and deeper, you may not know the real truth.

No one has the time to go deeper and deeper into these political issues, even if he is a hired spin doctor. So we settle for the centre rank. No open order! We settle for the centre rank and wait for when we see our political giants confront each other on the screens of our local TVs to tell Nigerians what they have in their kitty and how they can make the country a better place.

But before then, I have indeed noted to my chagrin, that so many people recklessly criticise me each time I write an article that tends to favour GEJ. I am yet to know why.

In one instance when I wrote “Blame the Governor, not the President”, so many readers came after me for holding my opinion. In all my 40 years as a writer, I had never been as vilified as I was that week. I was called dumb. I was named a wacko and a bigot. My article was rated as very misinforming. One critic said I was seeking for cheap fame. Another called me 'a big inyamiri Igbo fool' and suggested I was too greedy to speak the truth. One said I was a big moron and a thief to say that rather than President Jonathan, Governor Shettima should be blamed for being impressively unresponsive to what was happening in his state while another said I was either a hungry writer or a selfish observer. One very interesting critic said people like me, struggling with life, and to survive in our London Council flats write a lot of stupid things and that our reasoning was daft. Another said that when he saw the appendix, KSC after my name, he knew that all I would write was lies, and so on.

So, as I promised when I wrote about GMB last week, let us now take another cursory look at some of the highlights of the Presidency of Nigeria's somewhat controversial Jonathan. In doing so, I need to reiterate once more that this 2015 election is not all about GEJ or GMB. It is all about Nigeria and the future of Nigerians.

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GEJ, was born on 20 November 1957 in what is now Bayelsa State, to a Christian family of canoe builders. This means that he had a humble beginning in life. It also means that he will be 57 years and three months old at election time.

This compares with GMB, a native of Katsina State and a Muslim born in 1942. Buhari who was 7th Head of State of Nigeria (1983 – 1985) also had a humble beginning in life when he lost his father at a tender age and was raised by his mother. He will be 72 years and two months at election time.

In these matters, age and early upbringing are very important factors. The pressure of work that attends the office of the President of any country can be very stressful and so, age and early upbringing will count when the time comes for Mr. President to carry his cross!

Jonathan holds a B.Sc. Honours, second class upper division degree in Zoology. He also holds a Master of Science degree in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology and a PhD degree in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt.

GMB trained as a military officer at the Nigerian Military Training School and Military College in Kaduna. He then attended the Officer Cadet School and the Army Mechanical Transport School, both in the United Kingdom. He went on to attend further training at the Defence Services' Staff College in India and the United States Army War College.

As a public officer, GMB served Nigeria as Governor of North-East in 1975; as Federal Minister for Petroleum Resources from 1976 to 1978; as Chairman of Nigeria National Petroleum Company, NNPC, in 1978 and as Chairman of Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF, from 1995 to 1999. GMB has been a member of several parties in the last 12 years, and is gunning for the Presidency the fourth time.

Before he ventured into politics in 1998, GEJ was an Inspector of Education, a university lecturer, and an Environmental Protection Officer. Before he became President, he served Nigeria as Governor of Bayelsa State from 2005 to 2007 and as Vice President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010. He has been President of Nigeria since 2010 and is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Like many other governments around the world, the Administration of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has not thrived without criticisms, some of them constructive, some not so constructive.

In 2007, for example, the President declared his assets as worth a total of ₦ 295,304,420 Naira ($1,845,652 USD). Seven years later, in its edition of 9 October 2014, the richestlifestyle.com website ranked Jonathan sixth on its list of rich Nigerians, claiming his net worth was about $100m (£62m). Jonathan threatened to sue the website for portraying him as a corrupt public officer. The page was withdrawn. But soon afterwards, it was published by another website and nothing happened.

GEJ's administration has been plagued by insecurity of persons and property, especially in the North Eastern States of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Plateau and Yobe. Islamist militants have continued to terrorise these parts of the country. The group has killed thousands of Nigerians in these areas. It is said that they want to establish an Islamic Nigeria. But that may be another tissue of lies, another propaganda that lacks a human face.

Only a few days ago, the insurgents invaded Cameroon and kidnapped as many as 60 citizens of that country. What could have been their mission in Cameroon? Did they also want to Islamise Cameroon? Are they now going international?

The GEJ administration continues with whatever it can do to contain Boko Haram's assault within Nigerian borders. Some critics say the Administration is weak and is treating Boko Haram with kid gloves. Other critics like the American government say the GEJ administration is high-handed in its treatment of Boko Haram, and that such high handedness can only be counter-productive if Boko Haram's assault on Nigeria's sovereignty must be stopped. They even talk of defending the “human rights” of the insurgents as if those millions of innocent citizens Boko Haram mows down daily have no human rights themselves!

Even as we speak, the insurgents have continued their killing spree across the north. Drive-by motorbike assassination of politicians and policemen has become their latest modus operandi. And it is widely believed that these series of killings are in revenge for their leader, Mohammed Yusuf, who died in police custody six years ago, in 2009.

From Borno State where the concept of a militant insurgency was initially hatched, the militants' activities have continued to grow in confidence and scale, spreading across to more states in the region. Boko Haram has carried out suicide attacks on the headquarters of the police and UN in Abuja. They have been behind many bank robberies in the region. Recently, southerners living in the north have become targets of their deadly attacks and thousands have fled their homes. The Islamists have targeted Kano, the largest city in northern Nigeria. Nearly 200 people were killed in co-ordinated attacks on police and security headquarters. There have also been some recent high-profile kidnapping incidents in Kano. A German engineer was kidnapped late last year and is still under captivity. Last year also, Kano police rescued the father of Chelsea and Nigeria footballer John Mikel Obi, who had been captured in Jos.

Not only that.
President Jonathan is also plagued by his own people. Most militants in the Niger Delta were granted an amnesty in 2009 by President Musa Yar 'Adua, when they handed in their weapons. But since President Jonathan came to power, the oil-rich south of Nigeria has become notorious for its kidnappings for ransom - especially of expatriate oil workers. The dare devils even went as far as kidnapping President Jonathan's step father in his compound for money.

The lesson Nigerians need to learn from all this is that when Chief Obasanjo fielded Jonathan as the PDP Vice Presidential candidate, knowing that Yar 'Adua was seriously ill and may not survive the stress of the office of President, he had hoped that a Delta man as President would help calm down his people so that Nigeria can have peace. Jonathan could not placate his people. And by that same token, it is possible that a Northern President may not be able to contain the excesses of Boko Haram as GMB tells Nigerians he would – given the fact that Boko Haram's activities now extend beyond the borders of Nigeria. And there is also the fact that the trappings of power are never relinquished without a fight. The amnesty and financial guarantee that President Yar 'Adua granted to the leaders of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, opened the eyes of other regional would-be militants that violence pays in Nigeria. That is why GMB may not find it as simple as he believes it will be to contain the insurgency should he be elected President.

In fact, as we speak, former MEND officers are complaining that they are not receiving their monthly subventions from the government. Some of them are beginning to regroup, getting set to embark on more attacks on oil facilities and stealing oil from pipelines, known as "bunkering". Piracy which has continued to grow under the Administration is now the main worry for most residents of the Delta region's creeks. Boats are often held up and robbed and armed men are increasingly taking to the high seas to hijack big ships the Somali-style, their attacks becoming more and more violent. The Gulf of Guinea is now placed by Maritime Insurers in the same risk category as Somalia.

Kidnapping in the South East is another of the headache plaguing the GEJ administration. Abia state had for some time been known as the kidnapping capital of Nigeria. Families of politicians and businessmen had been the main targets in what seemed like industrial scale kidnapping. The military was able to kill the man thought to be the leader of the kidnappers in December 2010. Since then incidents of kidnapping have abated significantly. That notwithstanding, what is in vogue is that anyone who feels important now has to travel with bodyguards. Imo and Anambra states still have isolated cases of kidnapping, but like in Abia, the situation has considerably ameliorated.

Police checkpoints on Nigeria's major inter-state roads were disbanded on the orders of the new police boss. He said his officers were only there to extort bribes from motorists and that it was no way to improve security. Motorists welcomed the move, but then with no policemen visible at strategic locations on the highways, armed highway robbers are striking back and robberies are on the increase throughout the country.

But it is the increasingly escalating menace of Boko Haram that remains the major security challenge that has defiantly looked the GEJ Administration pointedly in the eyes without blinking its own. Boko Haram has caused so much pain to so many families across the nation. They have killed the Igbo. They have killed the Yoruba. They have killed the Hausa and the Fulani. They have killed Christians. They have killed Muslims. They have killed students. They have killed people in the marketplace. They have killed people during events. They just don't care who they kill. They go for the most vulnerable people even in strategic places.

But Jonathan has taken specific steps in some cases. By June 2013 Jonathan ordered a 20-year jail term for anyone found to be in support of Boko Haram. On 16 January 2014, the President sacked his military High Command as a result of its inability to end the insurgency in Northern Nigeria. When the UN building in Abuja was bombed, President Jonathan raised the scope of awareness of the destruction Boko Haram was causing to international levels and commitment by declaring that it was not merely an attack on Nigeria, but on the international community. He said: "we will continue to work together with the UN and other world leaders to ensure that terrorism is brought under control.”

Jonathan's administration was severely criticized for its seeming inability to bring back the over 200 girls abducted from their school in Chibok by Boko Haram. His recent visit to wounded soldiers in Maiduguri was widely hailed as a step in the right direction. But some Nigerians say the visit will not be complete until the President visits places like Chibok to meet with the parents of the girls. His visit will not be complete until he visits Baga and all the other villages in the North East which the insurgents sacked.

In 2010 after the Nigerian football team failed to progress beyond the group stage at FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Jonathan declared a two-year ban on the country's national football team. The team was banned from all international competitions. FIFA, the world football governing body, objected and insisted that it would expel Nigeria from world football if the government interfered. Subsequently Jonathan bowed to pressure and lifted the ban.

The GEJ administration has also been taken on by critics who strongly feel that his extension of Presidential pardon to his former boss, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was a manifestation of Jonathan's capability to condone corruption.

His administration has been criticized for the Malabu Oil Deal Scandal which involved an ex-Minister. It was alleged that in 2011 Goodluck Jonathan's government facilitated the transfer of payment of $1.1bn to a fake company set up by Chief Dan Etete, a controversial former Petroleum Minister under Sani Abacha's corrupt regime. The fake company, Malabu Oil and Gas was set up in 1998 by Etete using a false identity to enable him award himself a lucrative oil block, OPL245, for which he paid only $2m of the $20m legally required by the State.

The Administration also came under fire when on 1 January 2012 it announced the start of a controversial plan to end fuel subsidies. Many prominent Nigerians spoke out against the removal of fuel subsidy by the Jonathan administration. Former Petroleum Minister Professor Tam David-West expressed concern that the removal of fuel subsidy would squeeze the economy, increase inflation, and hurt both businesses and the public. A former military Head of State and Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources, General Buhari, urged President Jonathan not to remove the fuel subsidy but to tackle corruption instead. General Yakubu Gowon, another former military Head of State, warned the government that the country's infrastructure should be revived before steps can be taken towards fuel subsidy removal. Former military Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida joined millions of Nigerians to protest against the removal of fuel subsidy by the Jonathan administration, saying that the action was ill-timed. The Nigeria Labour Congress warned that the country would face series of industrial actions. The unions followed up their threats with actions that merged with civil protests from 9th to13th of January 2012. Protesters and groups called for President Jonathan to resign over the removal of fuel subsidies.

After five days of national protests, on 16 January, Jonathan announced that his Administration had set pump price of petroleum at 97 naira per litre as against the 147 naira the planned government's removal of subsidies would have taken the price to.

Those were not all the problems President Jonathan had to contend with.

Henry Okah, former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, insisted during his trial on 2 May 2012 in South Africa that President Jonathan masterminded the 1 October 2010 Independence Day bomb attack in Abuja. Okah told the court that President Jonathan and his aides organized the attack in a desperate political strategy to demonize political opponents, including the former military Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, and to win popular sympathy ahead of the 2011 elections. The Presidency quickly denied the allegations. A media statement issued on 2 May 2012, acknowledged the accusations from Okah but went on to say: “The Presidency categorically affirms that these allegations are false in their entirety and without any factual foundation."

Another controversy that trailed the GEJ Administration was when in May 2012, the President changed the name of the University of Lagos to Moshood Abiola University in honour of the late MKO Abiola. The action drew the global attention of critics. Among them were pro-Abiola advocates. Some critics including the Alumni Association of the university opined that the President did not submit an appropriate bill to the legislature for the change of name. Some insisted that the University's brand name should not be tampered with.

In January 2014, Jonathan signed the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act into law after a motion on it was passed by the Senate and House of Representatives. The law prohibits gay relationships, membership and other involvement in gay societies and organizations and gay marriages. Penalties were stipulated at up to 14 years in prison for gay marriages and up to 10 years for other violations of the law. Within a short period, the federal police department compiled a list of 168 gay people who would subsequently be jailed. His decision and the law were described as controversial by the international community. But like most African nations, the GEJ-led government insisted that Nigeria's tradition and culture must be respected by other parts of the world and that there would be no going back on that.

The Administration was also criticized in a 5 September 2014 saga in which South African customs officers at Lanseria Airport seized an undisclosed and undeclared amount of $9.3million stuffed in three suitcases and carried on a private jet by two Nigerians and an Israeli. Jonathan's government admitted ownership of the money and claimed it was intended for procurement of arms and ammunition. It was later revealed that the private jet used to transport the money was owned by Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, current President of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN.

But obviously not all the criticism has been negative. Some people point with pride to what Jonathan has achieved during his four years in office as President.

On 2 August 2010 Jonathan launched his 'Roadmap for Power Sector Reform”. Its primary goal was to achieve stable electricity in Nigeria. Since Nigeria had self rule in 1960, the nation's Power Sector had been plagued with frequent and long blackouts. Economists estimate that the power outages cost Nigeria billions of pounds on imported diesel for generators and in lost output. Jonathan has overseen to the privatization of his country's power sector, culminating in a more efficient and more reliable power supply to the Nigerian population.

The Power Holding Company of Nigeria, which acted as the state electricity provider, has been broken up into 15 firms. Under his government, Nigeria handed over control of state electricity assets to 15 private bidding companies. The GEJ government contracted the services of CPCS Transcom Limited, a Canada-based consulting firm specializing in transportation and energy infrastructure projects, to act as Transaction Adviser for the handover of state electricity assets.

On 11 October 2011, President Jonathan launched the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YOUWIN) Initiative, an innovative business plan competition that harnesses the creative energies of young people between the ages of 18 and 35. The YOUWIN Initiative was expected to create between 40,000 to 50,000 sustainable jobs by 2014.

In 2011, President Jonathan launched the Transformation Agenda. The Transformation Agenda, coordinated by the National Planning Commission, was a summary of the GEJ Administration's plan to deliver projects, programmes and key priority policies, from 2011 to 2015.

On 11 September 2013, President Jonathan sacked Shamsudeen Usman, the creator and coordinator of the Transformation Agenda and Minister of National Planning. He was sacked along with eight other cabinet ministers as a result of a rift in the People's Democratic Party.

Only a few days ago, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, the first Executive President of Nigeria broke his silence, 32 years after his government was overthrown in a military coup by Major General Buhari. In a widely publicized interview with an African Independent Television news reporter in Sokoto, the former President said Jonathan may not be the best, but he could mention 3 to 4 breakthroughs in Nigeria that occurred under his 5 years in office. “Under Jonathan's administration, train is back in Nigeria after about 30 years of neglect. In fact, my 27 years old grandchild boarded a train for the first time in his life in 2014. His Administration is the first government to construct over 125 modern Almajiri schools and 12 Universities in a short frame of time. He is the first Nigerian leader to construct Cargo Airports and ensure that all zones in Nigeria have International Airports. His Administration is the first Nigerian government to eradicate the high level corruption in the distribution of fertilizer and payment of ghost workers. His is the very first government to start diversifying Nigerian economy back to agriculture after Nigeria lost its agricultural glory in the 70s.

Need anyone say more?
As Nigerians go to vote on 14th February, let them remember that it is not all about GEJ or GMB (or maybe Governor Kwankwaso as some suggest). It is about Nigeria's march to nationhood. But first, it is first about the welfare of the poorest (not the richest) segment of the Nigerian society. It is about clean drinking water in every village in the country. It is about affordable medical care for every Nigerian citizen. It is about well equipped primary and secondary schools. It is about universities that don't keep students for seven years for courses that should otherwise take three year to finish. It is about local government council houses built for low income working class families and rented to them cheaply by council. It is about good network of roads (not death traps) that decongest the big cities.

It is about non-stop electricity supply to all the cities and villages in the country. It is about who can bring back the many over qualified Nigerians abroad who are serving foreign countries and foreign interests instead of serving the impoverished citizens of the country of their birth. It is about the future of Nigeria and Nigerian youths. Nigeria has got the money and qualified people. The question is: who shall we send? Who will go for us? This, indeed, is the time when kings (the voters) decide.

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